Most Anticipated 2017: PT 2
Time for the second installment of our "Most Anticipated Albums of 2017"! This week one of our writers Emmeline Knowlan, talks about which five albums she's most looking forward to this year!
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Powers: Alpha. 04/07/17
After writing for famed artists like Selena Gomez and Eminem, electronic pop duo
Powers is finally releasing their first full-length album in April. Following the success of their 2015 ep Legendary, the duo released the first single, “Dance,” off their upcoming record Alpha on January 12. “Dance” is accompanied by a video full of fun costumes, confetti and a mechanical bull, and is the first of several forthcoming videos linked with the album. I absolutely fell in love with the band’s positive vibes and high energy performance style after seeing them last year at Firefly Music Festival in Dover, and cannot wait for more tracks from them. You can catch them on a spring tour with Sabrina Carpenter March 20-April 7.
Young Rising Sons: TBA
Fans have been waiting for a full-length album from alternative rock band Young Rising
Sons for almost two years now. Rumors about a finished album circulated frequently in early 2016, but were silenced after lead guitarist Dylan Scott left the group. In October the band released “Undefeatable,” its’ first new single in over a year, on an ep that also included a studio version of fan favorite “Simple Life,” and a cover of Modern English’s “Melt With You.” More recently they have been posting Snapchat and Instagram stories from the studio, with sneak peeks of different tracks they’ve been working on. Hopefully those songs will reach the fans sometime over the course of the upcoming year, and I know I will be one of the first to listen once they are released.
Liam Payne: TBA
Speculation about solo music from the members of One Direction spread throughout
various news outlets once the band announced their hiatus back in 2015. While many are looking forward to the day Harry Styles releases his first track, I am most interested in seeing what Liam Payne produces. Payne signed a solo deal with Republic Records in conjunction with Capitol UK last October, and has been posting pictures of his studio sessions online recently. Although no solid time frame has been made public, an interview with British songwriter Conor Maynard casts hope that we will hear what Payne has been working on sometime this year. The interview also states the tracks Maynard worked on will have a heavy R&B influence, which is quite the departure from One Direction’s work as a group. I am very excited to see how this style of music goes over with the fanbase.
Joywave: TBA
With a slew of previous work under their belt, Rochester-based alt-rock group Joywave
has kept relatively quiet regarding their upcoming second album. Ambiguous online posts, mainly streaming from the band’s various Instagram pages, regarding the work on “LP2” show that much of the recording was done in the second half of 2016. Fans have come to expect quirky, sarcastic type of posts from them, especially when frontman Daniel Armbruster is involved. The band’s latest ep Swish shows off this unorthodox side, with different mixes of their song “Destruction” encompassing nine out of the 10 tracks. Many of the messages and themes in their first album How Do You Feel Now? really resonated with me, and I am incredibly interested in seeing how they follow up with the future release.
Lorde: TBA. Spring 2017
When Lorde’s first single “Royals” dropped back in 2013, just about everyone, no matter
age or geographical location, knew the lyrics to the singer’s breakout anthem. Four years later, the New Zealander is back with what is expected to be one of the top-selling albums of the year. A post on Lorde’s Facebook page from November 2016 revealed that while her first album embraced teenage glory, her upcoming work is “about what comes next.” According to reports in Billboard and NME the album will be released sometime this spring, with a corresponding world tour to follow. Her eloquence and outstanding level of maturity continue to amaze and inspire me, and to say I’m simply looking forward to this record would not convey how excited I am to see exactly what comes next.